Necroma

Heeeyyy. Been a while ehehe... Somehow one week turned into several months thanks to the evil thing people call the Real Life. Anyways, here you go, have the second chapter finally. >->;

On a different note, I'll be pausing this WN for a time while I'm concentrating on another story I've got in the works to free my brain a little bit and write something a little more wholesome than this.

Oh also CW: Strong language, mention of slavery

Now then, have fun reading!

The moon shining through the dense canopy, me and the rabbit beastkin finally came to a stop in the Surisian jungle’s depths, both of us dropping to the ground like dead and staring up at mighty trees. My ears were discerning the noise of fauna close by, noticing nothing threatening and with a sigh of relief my eyes closed for just a moment of rest before getting up again, gazing at the beastkin not far from me. About to say something, he interrupted me and stared in my direction with an expression of confusion and anger, opening his mouth to speak.

“Why did you save me? I didn’t ask you to, did I? I had everything under control!” He crossed his dainty arms and continued to stare me down. Now that I finally had time to look at him properly, I noticed his rather flowery- but ragged dress, red eyes piercing me from beneath his dirty-golden locks and demanding an answer. However, contrary to his expectations I simply replied with a shrug and motioned around.

“I needed a guide to get me to the capital of Surisia. Sure, I could survive in this Jungle alone, but getting closer to the capital means getting farther away from two of the worst slavering nations. From what I’ve heard, Surisia’s been fighting back against the two empires to the south successfully for a long time now.” a chuckle escaped me and I kept his stare “You wouldn’t believe how talkative soldiers are while bound to a bed and begging you for release, boy.”

He looked at me bewildered for a moment before his ears drooped slightly, only to perk up again after a moment. “I’m not a boy, you venomous bitch. I’m a girl as you can clearly see. And you’ll call me Evaline or I’ll rip out your tongue and make you swallow it next time you instead call me a boy, got it? Unfortunately I’m sorry to inform your majesty that I have no idea where we are and thus, we are lost and consequently I’m going to be useless to you.” He… no, she flipped her hair with one hand and stood there in front of me as if she owned the world- though the image was completely destroyed by the collar around her neck and the barely sustainable dress.

I stifled a short snort and tilted my head to the side, eyes scanning over her again for a moment. From the beastkin’s physique and flat-as-a-board chest, she clearly had a male body. Even the voice was rather deep and his throat showed a clearly visible laryngeal prominence. Still, if she said she’s a girl, who was I to question her? Didn’t care in particular. All that mattered to me at the moment was losing the guide I was hoping for and a tired groan escaped my lips.

“So basically we’re lost in a jungle full deadly monsters, plants and most likely a search party consisting of Phaxian soldiers. Neither of us knows in which direction to go and the only one with a functional weapon here is me. Furthermore you’re wearing a slave collar. I’m not gonna touch that thing by the way. Who knows what they’ve done with it. I’d rather not face an explosion headfirst.” I stared at the boy for a moment and moved to the closest tree, banging my head against it a few times before turning around again, sighing deeply and ignoring the small trickle of blood running down my forehead. “Well… Evaline. I’m Aconita and not a ‘venomous bitch’. Regardless of if you like it or not, we’re gonna have to work together if we plan to survive in this hellhole of a Jungle and make it to… any city unscathed.”

Before she could reply, I undid the belt keeping dagger and sheath fixed to my thigh and threw both rather unceremoniously towards her. To my surprise, she swiftly managed to catch both and wasted no time binding the belt around her own thigh, drawing the simple iron dagger for inspection. “Don’t cut yourself on the blade, it’s steeped in poison..” Another groan escaped me and I turned away from her, scanning the surrounding area for signs of monsters and especially dryads. Waking up with a spear against your throat wasn’t exactly something I wanted to experience again. Ever.

~*~*~

After a few more moments of rest we finally went on our way again, tentatively walking through the dense jungle while keeping eyes and ears open to any movement. It didn’t take long for us to stumble upon a small clearing with a pond in its centre. A smile came over our lips for just a moment and after short consideration, we moved closer to inspect it and maybe even get something to drink- a hope dashed in its infancy. Few steps away from it, we could finally see the pond clearly and considering the ‘water’s’ dangerously purple shade and putrid smell it was most definitely filled to the brim with deadly poison or worse. Not even I wanted to risk it considering the occasional bubble appearing on its surface. 

With a resigned sigh I turned back towards Evaline and shrugged once again, glancing up at the sky a moment later and wondering what I did to displease the Twin Goddesses this much. Maybe I should have been praying more often? Shaking my head I returned my attention to the rabbitkin in front of me. “I don’t suppose you know how to read the stars, do you?” she scoffed at me and lifted her rather cute button nose before replying “Do I look like an astronomer or sailor to you?” 

No, she certainly didn’t. But she looked positively like a complete brat. Not that I’d say that out loud- too bothersome. She was so much cuter when she didn’t open her mouth. Rolling my eyes in annoyance, I created a small sphere of poison and flinged it at the pond to calm down somewhat. A decision I soon came to regret.